Q. Why should sleep specialists choose your company’s diagnostic systems?

A. The Sandman Sleep Diagnostic system is the product chosen most often by sleep specialists across the country, and Sandman products are currently running in more than 1,000 sleep centers in North America. From a 10-bed university research center to a two-bed private clinic, our customers tell us they chose our system for their laboratory because we were able to offer the most customized and flexible sleep solution to suit their needs.

Our customers like the fact that Sandman products are extremely user-friendly. Reliability and quality are critical as well, and something that we guarantee.

Q. How is your company different from other sleep companies?

A. The real difference a customer will find when they choose a Sandman Sleep System is the entire experience—from the beginning of the sales cycle to installation and training on the product to follow-up support from our technical and clinical experts. We consider this the “real product.”

We take care of our customers. Half of our business comes from existing Sandman sleep laboratories expanding their businesses. Our goal is not just to meet, but to exceed our customers’ expectations, and we are able to do this with our commitment to customer service and satisfaction. We back this commitment up with resources, which include a large team of experienced technical and clinical support staff.

Q. What is included in the support for products and why is that important?

A. We work at getting to know each of our customers and their needs. All new Sandman systems are installed and customized by a skilled and experienced staff member in the sleep laboratory based on the customers’ requirements.

Sleep specialists receive in-depth, intensive, hands-on training. This is backed by 24/7 support from our technical services staff. Sandman Sleep sales specialists are involved in the entire process from the quote to after sales support.

We also have an in-house customer advocate in our customer satisfaction representative. It is the combined effort of this team that ensures we deliver what we promise. Our relationship with our customers is important to us.

Q. How do your products exemplify the company’s development philosophy?

A. We focus on including the best ingredients to produce a superior product. In the sleep product line these ingredients include the industry experience of Jack Smith, PhD, (Neurotronics Polysmith Sleep Software) and senior engineers Jake Johnson and James Schubert. This group produces innovative and reliable software solutions at a pace that keeps us on the cutting edge. This is coupled with the high quality and longevity that the market has come to expect from Nihon Kohden EEG and polysomnographic hardware. Considerable market and user input and a cohesive organization are the spices that complete our recipe for successful polysomnographic solutions.

Q. How do you expect your new amplifier box and Polysmith 2003 software to impact the marketplace?

A. The JE-912A polysomnographic amplifier is designed for polysomnographic application. With the new internal Nihon Kohden pulse oximeter and USB interface, combined with the highest level of technical specifications available on the market, this competitively priced amplifier gives our customers high-quality signal processing.

The Polysmith 2003 software offers a new scoring interface designed to increase scoring speed and accuracy. We also have expanded the software to include a pediatric module and pediatric database. Our focus on database management has not changed in that we will be introducing a second generation of the Polysmith database some time this year.

These new additions allow us to provide customers with a complete solution that encompasses EEG, epilepsy, sleep, adult, and pediatric interfaces with database and administrative solutions for both the in-laboratory and portable environment. These enhancements were conceived with technologists, physicians, and administrators in mind. This is unprecedented in the sleep diagnostic market.

Q. Where do you expect the company’s focus to turn next?

A. I think the company will merge its core competencies. Nihon Kohden provides a wide variety of products for the cardiology and patient monitoring market in addition to our neurology division (EEG and sleep). There are technologies in these divisions that complement each other. Also, we are currently developing the integration of epilepsy and sleep technologies. I think further focus in this area will be a priority.